friendship and hardship
by guidiani
Summary: Friendships and Hardships. It all seemed so perfect for these four friends. However, Tatiana's instincts lead her into finding someone in trouble. Aster's flashbacks enrage him,regardless of a troublemaker. Nick will follow his best friend into anything. Sanderson is a loyal younger brother. They all will soon find out that people aren't always what they seem to be.
1. Chapter 1 meet Nick

Chapter One. Meet Nick  
"PSSST…PSSSST… hey, heeey, Nick" Aster whispered. He couldn't believe Nick couldn't hear him,they were practically sitting next to each other.  
He rolled his eyes. He and Nick had been best friends since freshman year when Nick stood up for him when he was being picked on at school for his thick Australian accent. That was almost four years, so he knew how deaf Nick could be sometimes. It wasn't like he was actually deaf. Nick was a distracted guy.  
However,Nick's younger brother on the other hand was actually a mute. That didn't stop him from making friends and being involved in sports and what not. Aster started trailing off as well.  
He started thinking about things he wanted to do once he and his best bud graduated. There were good and there were bad things. He thought about his swim team. He was varsity swim team spirit that meant that he helped the younger novice teams improve and advance.  
They all pretty much looked up to him, all but that one kid.  
Ugh,the thought of him just made him mad. It didn't matter he was just a stupid junior.  
Thinking of juniors,his stomach churned at the thought of leaving his girlfriend behind. They had dated all through high school. He quickly turned his thought to something else. He looked down at his paper and saw how empty it was.  
"S***." he mumbled  
"Did you say something,Aster?"Mrs. Ward asked looking up from her reading glasses  
"I uhh… no. No,I didn't."  
"Well,you have less than 7 minutes to finish your test" she replied in her monotone voice.  
At that, the whole class moaned and groaned.  
"S***. S***. S***. S***." he cursed to himself.  
" … Nick, you gotta help me out here,mate."  
Nick finally turned. Nick was a tall guy about 5'9. However,Aster was still slightly taller. He had big blue eyes, long lashes, a small nose and rosy cheeks. A good looking kid to say the least. He had a thicker built than Aster's lean body, it worked well for him being in the football team and all. He kept his brown hair short, almost at a buzz and his five o'clock shadow didn't make him look scruffy like it did to most people. He usually dressed in his comfy ripped jeans, a black T, big black boots and he almost never took off his big red letterman jacket. It was only during classes that he would take off his jacket exposing his tattooed left and right forearm. His right arm being something about 'evil' and his left arm about 'good'. It was something to do with good vs evil.  
Nick reached his right arm over to Aster handing him his own paper and Aster gave him his in return. They filled out each other's questions that the other wasn't able to answer before returning their papers back to each other. That took care of 85% of the test and with that he guessed the rest of the test. They turned in their papers just as the bell rung.

~LionsandTrolls helped me with my spelling and grammar~ thank you :)


	2. Chapter 2 meet Tatiana

Ch. 2 Meet tatiana

They walked out of their final class together talking about the ridiculously long test and how boring that class was.

"Aster!" A loud squeaky voice was heard from across the hall. When she final caught their attention. She half ran half skipped towards them. This wasn't unusual for her to do, she was a happy girl most of the time skipping and swirling around. Her purple outfits always matched her personality along with the excessive amount of jewelry she wore.

When she finally caught up to the two tall boys, she was out of breath but none the less she proceeded on. First giving Aster a huge smooch. Aster slightly blushed and looked around to see if anybody had seen. He wasn't big on public display of affection. She then started walking with them talking on and on about a dance, some dresses, her cheer team, her voice was almost like a chirp and she talked so fast and excited that Aster and Nick only caught some words here and there. Not something they weren't used to. Tatiana was always excited about something. She had big brown eyes with long eyelashes, a small nose, she was only about 5'2 in height but made up for it in hair. Her hair long and brown went down to her waist even tied up in a ponytail as it usually was. She had transferred to this school about 3 years ago from California when she was 14. Aster and she had started dating almost immediately.

"So, like... what do you guys think then?" she asked. Her eyes looking up at both boys. To be honest they both hadn't been really paying much attention. Her face still excited waiting for an answer from either of them when a small notebook slid up from behind her. The note read **"that sound fantastic maybe you can show it to us later today".** She turned around with a bright smile already knowing who had written that.


	3. Chapter 3 meet sanderson

Ch.3 meet Sanderson (nick's younger brother)

Sanderson was the youngest from the group of friends. He was only a sophomore he was about 5'6, shorter than his older brother and Aster but still taller than Tatiana. Unlike his brother he was more slender but still had some muscle to show, being in the wrestling team kept him fit and active. He had originally joined the team last year to try to make friends and seeing that he wouldn't need much talking to beat someone up he thought it would suit him well. You could definitely see the resemblance between him and is brother. Small blue eyes, little button nose, rosy cheeks and brown hair, although he kept his a bit longer than Nick, his spiked up hair didn't go past the back of his neck. Sanderson had a more 'in style' kind of style than his brother. He usually dressed skinny jeans with a v neck shirt and some vans.

Sanderson smiled at Tatiana as she turned around to give him a hug. Tatiana was glad that someone was paying attention. It didn't bother her that she had practically been ignored by her boyfriend she knew he had a lot on his mind lately.

Nick and Aster looked at each other wondering what Tatiana had been talking about the whole time.

Suddenly nick broke the silence

"Little brother! You have come to join us on our walk" nick greeted in his Russian accent as he smiled at his younger brother. Nick and Sanderson got along better than most siblings ever did. They hung out like friends and people usually didn't think they were related much less brothers despite their physical similarities.

Sanderson smiled back to his brother and the rest of the group. He held up his notebook

"Tatiana was just mentioning that she had prepared a new cheer and she wanted to know if we thought it would be a good idea"

The others smiled at her and

"Well wed have to see it first" aster said

Tatiana smiled. The four friends walked down the hall heading towards the exit of the school. Aster was barely taller than Nick, but completely towered over the rest of the group


	4. Chapter 4 meet Aster

Ch. 4 meet Aster

Aster had moved from Australia. He was about 5'10 which was petty average where he was from. He was a very handsome guy. With beady green eyes a thick nose, a muscular jaw line and thin lips. He had long down to his shoulders brown hair with he kept in a low ponytail. The ends of his hair looked slightly bleached which was probably from the chlorinated water he would spend in most mornings and afternoons. His shoulders were filled with tribal looking tattoos. As for style he didn't really care much for it. He would usually throw on some cargo shorts with a plain T and slip on some sandals. Unless it was winter then he'd wear his boots. Despite being a handsome fellow it took him a while to ask Tatiana out for the first time back in his sophomore year. He wanted to ask her as soon as he had met her but his confidence had been shattered by the bullies of the school. Most of the girls thought he was hot and the accent just topped it all off. However all the attention the girls were giving him was what infuriated the boys at the school. They pushed and shoved him always remembering to mention how stupid his accent sounded. After Nick had confronted the bullies his confidence had gone right up enabling him to finally ask out the girl he had his eyes on. Ever since then Nick and Aster had become very popular but they never let it get to their heads. In fact people wondered if they even knew how popular they were. Since being Nicks younger brother and all Sanderson also became popular and so did Tatiana upon becoming Asters girlfriend. They were a very good group of friends

Almost everyone at the school liked Aster although he was known for his temper, he would only show it if he was upset or someone was messing with his friends. He could not stand bullies. ALMOST everyone liked him. There were some creepy kids that liked to bully other kids. They weren't too fond of Aster. Then there was that junior from his swim team.

"Bloody show pony" Aster mumbled. Apparently loud enough for his friend to hear.

"Huh?" nick asked

"Who?" Tatiana asked almost at the same time as Nick. Now Aster was going to have to explain. He wasn't too happy to talk about him, he hated even thinking about this trouble maker.

"Him" he pointed over to a kid skating down the hall towards the exit. He was being yelled at and hollered at by some passing teachers but he seemed to be used to it and simply ignored them racing towards the exit of the school.


	5. Chapter 5

hey so this isn't a chapter but id just like to say the reason these are ridiculously short is because i am just introducing the character s first and also because this is my first time doing this sort of thing so bare with me. i wont update that often just thought id let you know in advance. i am a busy woman however i will finish the story if it becomes liked enough. if not then there really wouldn't be a point in continuing. thank you.

i do not own ROTG. Just the story line and i wish i owned jack frost (an older version) :}


	6. Chapter 6 meet jack

Ch. 5 meet jack

"JACKSON OVERLAND FROST!" a teacher yelled from across the hall. "Get over here right this instant before I report you to the principal". Jack quickly turned his excited face away from the exit of the school towards the hollering teacher. "Damn it. So close" jack blurted. "What was that?" the teacher demanded. "nothing… nothing" he sighed " just get it over with, what do you want?" the teacher eyed him up and down before shaking his head " How many detentions do you have already?" jack started to count in his head looking down at his fingers. Before reaching his fourth finger the teacher said "don't answer that. Just get off the board and walk down the hallway" jack lazily hoped off his board, turned around and started walking away. As soon as he reached the exit of the school he flew of the ground jumping over all four steps and onto his board disappearing from view. Jack had lived in Pennsylvania his whole life however he was new to the small town of burgess. He was never big on making friends, not that he was shy or unattractive. At first glance anyone would think he's loaded with friend and surrounded by pretty girls. He was a good looking kid, reaching about 5'7 in height slender with big brown eyes and dark brown messy hair. He was really paled skinned and you had to look really closely to notice his barely rosed lips. Jack just didn't care much for that. People bothered him. He didn't feel the need to have someone around and share his feelings with, and share deep dark secrets, and have stupid sleepovers, and all that sissy crap. He was fine on his own. Plus he had no time for that kind of stuff. He turned around the back of the school and jumped over an old fence, walked around the bushes and finally reached the locker rooms. Sure there was an easier way to get there, but that meant he'd have to go through a crowd of kids all trying to leave school to get home to their loving parents. He was early to swim practice as usual. He quickly undressed starting with his black convers then tugging off his blue sweatshirt then reaching for his comp suit. He slipped into it quickly just as the first teammates started arriving.


	7. Chapter 7 The team

Ch. 7 the team

Aster waved goodbye to his friends as they left the campus. He then looked down at his watch only to notice how late he was

"HOLY…" He started and left with a half jog half walk down the hallway of the school

"Ima be late" he told himself. He walked past some teachers and as soon as they were out of view he started his jog again. Finally reached the locker rooms and began undressing.

Swim practice had started. Everyone met by the pool deck waiting on their coach to give out their warm up. The novice team practice was held at the far end of the pool, right next to them were the junior varsity then at the opposite end was the varsity team. Aster showed up. He announced that the coach was feeling a bit under the weather so he was going to be out for a few day. "yessssssssss" was heard among the huge crowd of swimmers " hey hey. Show some respect for our coach, "he continued "he did however leave me in charge. We will have practice. So don't think you go on and get out of your togs just yet, I have all his warm ups and swim sets. If there are any questions come to me, and don't forget to pick up this handout at the end of practice" he said loudly for everyone to hear raising his hand full of papers for it to be seen among the crowd "it has the swim meet dates and times" as he went on with the announcements he had spotted a kid already in the pool starting to place his goggles. He was easily recognizable, even with his cap and goggles on. He was the only one who wore a comp suit rather than a speedo like the rest of the team. Nobody really knew why but they assumed perhaps he was uncomfortable with his body. Which would be weird for this kid to even care what others thought. But no one really cared to ask. Aster finished with his announcements and sent off the swimmers giving each team a different warm up according to their abilities. He walked over to the kid who was already probably on his 3rd lap. He caught the kid's attention with a kickboard.

"What the?…" jack started looking around, finally glancing up at aster who was looking straight at him

"oh, hey wattup" jack said casually"

"wattup?" aster repeated " listen here, you probably think yourself a dag but on this pool deck you listen to me or you **_RACK OFF_**! You no good no hopper. Aster walked away and jack just stared into the space where Aster had stood. He was confused, he wasn't sure if aster had just insulted him. He was usually pretty easy to understand but when he was in his danger zone his accent got thicker and half the words were unrecognizable to most. Jack just shrugged it off and continued with his warm up.

Two hours went by fast and practice was over. It was now five pm and time to head home. Jack was usually the last one out of the pool. He waited until the locker rooms cleared, meanwhile getting some extra practice. As soon as the last person left he'd head inside. Slowly rinse his brown hair from the chlorine, walk to his locker to where his clothes laid and slip into them. He would walk home taking the longest route. When he finally got home it was already six thirty. He snuck in his house careful not to make any noise grabbed some leftovers from the kitchen and took it to his room. He threw on some headphones and blasted his music "safe" he thought "safe and sound". And slowly he drifted into a deep sleep.


	8. Chapter 8 translations

Translations

togs: swim suits

rack off: get lost

no hopper: someone who will never do well

speedo: underwear-like swim wear for men

comp suit. competitive swim suit that covers torso, and legs down to the knees.

:) there you go


	9. Chapter 9 Lunch time

Ch. 9 lunch time

"I just don't get what his deal is" Aster and the rest of the group sat together during lunch. "Maybe he's just trying to get your attention" Tatiana suggested "HA. Right… right. And maybe the Easter bunny is real. Aster exclaimed. "Trust me all this kid wants is to make me mad. He feeds on peoples anguish. The other day the teacher kept us in ten extra minutes, he claimed someone had placed itching powder on his chair. WHO DOES THAT ANYMORE?" "How do you know it was jack" Tatiana asked "you don't get it. I just know, he had this…this little smile on his face... And … and ugh I just know ok!" "Did you feel it in your belly?" aster's eyes squinted over to nick "ok I see you guys just think I'm overreacting FINE but I'm telling ya this kid is bad news" Tatiana looked over at Aster, he was crossed armed leaning back in his chair looking away from his friends. She couldn't help a giggle when she noticed his pouting lips. She placed her hand on his back and began massaging circles. "How about we forget all about this jack and we try to enjoy the rest of lunch" she then began poking his ribs with her little fingers. "Stop" he said trying to stay mad. She continued. "stop it" he was now laughing" one of the many things Aster loved about Tatiana was her ability to calm him down. He knew he could be temperamental at times and she was about the only one that could bring back his smile. "Do you guys want to come over after school today? Nick and I got this new video game." Sanderson wrote on his notebook for his friends to read. "Good idea little brother. We can all enjoy game together." Nick gave Sanderson a huge pat on the back almost knocking the smaller boy off his chair. "I'm in" said aster. "I'm going to have to sit this one out guys" Tatiana said "I have to work on this new cheer after school and then. I have to stop by the library for tutoring session." "But I need you there, who's going to be on my team against nick and Sanderson? We always play together" "I know, I know. I promise I'll go next time" The bell finally rung and lunch time was over. The three friends made plans on picking up Aster after swim practice. The four friends picked up their lunch trays and waved goodbye before going their separate ways.


	10. Chapter 10 Meet the bullies

Ch. 10. Meet the bullies

"I said EVERYTHING" pitch said as he held onto the collar of the freshman's shirt. "Th-that's all I got, I swear "the freshman replied in a small voice staring at the four figures in front of him. Pitch looked at the kid up and down, then stared him in the eyes. Pitch's eyes were dark, not just in the sense that they were black in color, but his eyes were dark with evil. He was a mean kid. He had a long pointy nose that stood between his bony cheekbones and slick black hair that strongly contrasted against his pale almost grayish looking skin. He had a tall slender body reaching about 5'8. He wore dark navy blue jeans with a white v neck shirt and his black trench coat he wore every day. "I like your shoes" pitch said with a smile "huh?" the freshman was confused. "I LIKE. YOUR. SHOES" pitch growled. "What size are you?" "n-nine" the freshman replied in a trembling voice "tsk pity" pitch said.

"HAHAHHheeehehahahh. Heheheheheeee" an annoying laugh was heard from behind pitch.

"And what seems to be so funny, Travis" pitch said looking back to his laughing friend.

Travis was a short skinny looking kid with long shaggy greasy red hair that covered his eyes. He had a face full of freckles and he looked like he hadn't showered in weeks. By the way he was dressed, he didn't seem to care to cover his thinness, his jeans were tight and he wore a small black shirt with a white skull in the front.

"heeee heheh.. Nothing...ha-ha… it's just… hahah you know what they say about little feet… hehheeeehee" pitch rolled his eyes and turned back to the freshman " well perhaps they could still be of some value. Derek! Get over here and make yourself useful" at pitches command a big kid stepped forward. Derek seemed to be the exact opposite of Travis. He was a big meaty boy with almost no hair on his head. In the center of his face right under his little eyes was his big fat nose that seemed to take up half his face. His big ears stuck out from the sides of his head like antennas. He was proportionally fat all around. As Derek grew closer, pitch signaled with his eyes to take the shoes off of the freshman. It was a quick and easy sign almost just a look, as if they had already done this millions of times and no longer needed to verbally communicate to complete a task. Pitch held the kid tight against the wall as slowly Derek began undoing the laces.

"Babe, c'mon can't we do any better?" a female voice said. The fourth figure finally spoke. She seemed to just be supervising the situation. She had big blue eyes with sharp mousy features and bleached blond hair. She wore bright red lipstick and heavy eye makeup. Her ears were covered with multiple piercings. And her wardrobe consisted mostly of corsets.

"Natasha, sweetheart…" pitch began with a grin on his face "you heard the freshman, this is all he has, what else we are supposed to take? Perhaps NEXT time hell be better prepared" tears began falling down the freshman's face. He didn't want to anger them any further so he just let them do as they pleased even if it meant he'd walk home barefoot.

"AWWW look you've made him cry" Natasha said with a smirk.

"heee hahahha hahheeehehehehe" Travis began his annoying laugh.

"This is my favorite part" pitch loved it when fear was in his victims eyes and he loved it even more if he could make them cry.

"You know, it's one thing bullying kids after school but technically were still on school property. You could run into trouble with the principle. Pitch" everyone turned to see who had said that. Except for Pitch, he already knew who that voice belonged to.

"Frost…" Pitch greeted with wide arms letting the freshman fall hard on the ground. "I haven't seen ya in a while, have you been taking a different route home?"

"nah. Just decided to take my private jet instead"

"hahahhaha. You've always had a way to make me laugh. Y'know it's that little smart mouth of yours that gets you into trouble" in an instant jack was picked up from behind by Derek. He held him with both arms locked tightly behind his back. Jack looked over to the freshman "kid, run" jack said. Instantly the kid picked up his shoes off the floor and disappeared around the corner. Pitch was pissed "I wasn't done with him" he growled as he began making his way towards jack. Jack knew the kid holding him was easily three times his size so he knew it would be useless to struggle. He just stared right back at pitch. When pitch and jack were face to face a shock of pain exploded in jack's body as Pitch's fist dug itself deep into his ribs. Air instantly escaped him and soon enough he was gasping to breath. Pitch smiled and he prepared his fist for a second blow

"I wouldn't do that… if I were you" jack said between breaths

"And why not"

"The kid…he didn't run towards the exit….. He headed towards the principal's office"

Pitches eyes widened. He couldn't afford getting caught, he was already on probation. He lowered his fist and looked to where the freshman had disappeared "that little brat" with a small wave of his hand he signaled his posse to head out. Derek slammed jack to the floor. A loud grunt escaped jack's throat this time. Jack watched from where he laid face down as they walked out of the building the last one to leave was pitch. "This isn't over Frost" and he disappeared. Jack was able to get to his hands and knees. He slowly brought himself to his feet with one arm wrapped around his ribs. He wanted to disappear before the principal got there and started questioning him. He just wanted to put it all behind and move on. He hated people feeling bad for him, he hated feeling useless and he hated people helping him. He made his way around the corner barely being able to keep his head up. He decided to look at the floor as he walked in a crouched position. Soon to find that was a bad idea when he bumped into someone. His eyes squinted hard and he let out a small whimper at the pain in his ribs. As he looked up to see who he had bumped into, he saw a girl. A long haired purpley girl. She instantly dropped the books she had in her arms in concern for the crouching boy "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I didn't think… wow did we really bump that hard? Hey I know you! Jack, right?" She began to reach out to help him walk when instantly he stood upright "no. no I'm fine I was just... Uh looking for something. I found it. Gotta go bye" in a blink of an eye jack was gone. Tatiana had to process that slowly in her head. "That was weird" she thought. "I could have sworn that he was hurt… nah he was just looking for something" she convinced herself. That had taken most of jack's energy to do. He knew it was going to be a long walk home.

Jack finally made it home. He walked in as careful and quietly as always. He snuck into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door looking for an ice pack or anything cold that would ease the pain on his aching ribs, suddenly the lights were turned on "you're home early" the voice said "hey mom" jack pretended he was getting some juice instead. He pulled out the carton and poured himself a glass. "I skipped practice today. I need to catch up on some classes" "oh. Well I'm glad. I feel like I never get to see you." Rachel had to work two jobs to be able to afford their living expenses and the rest of the time she slept. Jack would get home quietly so he wouldn't wake her up. He knew how hard she worked. He had begged his mom so he could get a job and help out, but she told him that his school work was more important, she then insisted on him joining a sport, so he could worry less and make some friends.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" Rachel asked her son. Jack looked up from his glass of juice. And smiled at his mom. She was right, they never got to spent time together, much less had time to do something fun and relaxing "a movie sounds good".


	11. Chapter 11 Jack's past

CH.11 Jacks past

18 years ago

Jack's mother was a beautiful woman. She kept her hair short and it matched her pixie like face. She had thin delicate features and was as pale as the snow. She fell in love with john at the young age of 22. The couple wasted little time and before they knew it they were married. It was like a fairy tale. Everyone in town knew the Frost's. A short year of their beautiful mirage went by and soon Rachel was carrying a baby in her belly. They both already loved their baby Frost. His father sang to them and would lean down to Rachel's belly to talk to his son. He'd always mention to him how beautiful his mother was and to always love her. Although it didn't seem possible for things to get any more perfect in the young couples lives, things were even more beautiful once their baby jack was born. They loved him and cared for him. Jack was growing fast. 7 years had passed and the family's love had only grown. However, things could only be perfect for so long. It was a rainy night, Rachel paced back and forth in her living room stopping periodically to glance out the window then continuing her pacing. Jack laid on the living room floor playing with his toy trucks unaware of his mother's worries. Rachel bit down on her finger nails and for a final time looked out the window. She spotted a pair of headlights drawing closer and closer. A huge sigh of relief escaped her and with a low chuckle she walked towards the front door to greet her husband. When she opened the door her smile dropped to a confused expression. A tall figure in a trench coat and a hat stood on her porch. The man that stood in front of her was not her husband. She recognized the man. He worked with her husband. "Hi... I-uhh..." the man stumbled with his words "my name is Merle" "I know who you are" She rudely interrupted the man. But her manners were the least of her concerns. "Right" the man proceeded. "Where is my husband" she demanded as she stood on her tip toes to look over the man's shoulders hoping her husband would walk up from behind him. Merle couldn't find the words to explain to Rachel about her husband, so instead he looked down to the floor slowly removing his fedora from his head. Rachel stared at the man in disbelief. Hoping he was joking. Hoping this was a cruel prank. The two just stood there for what felt like hours. Rachel's world was spinning. Her mind was racing but at the same time everything moved in slow motion. Her hands move toward her lips as a small tear ran down her pale cheek. She fell to her knees and almost fell forward but was caught by Merle. The last words she heard were of a small child calling out. "Mommy, mommy" jack came towards his mom. "Mommy? What's wrong" she couldn't move she couldn't talk. Her eyes were still wide open but she couldn't see anything.

Jack had never had to wear this much black. He looked up to his mom "look mom were matching" they were both wearing black. Rachel knelt down on one knee and moved some hair off of jack's 7 year old face. She smiled with sadness in her eyes "Yes honey, we sure are".

Merle stood next to Rachel as they said their final goodbyes to the coffin that was slowly being lowered into the ground. Tear after tear ran down her cheek. Merle placed a reassuring arm around her only to ignite her tears and letting out a storm of sobs.

Day in and day out Merle would show up at the Frosts to make sure they were okay. Jack would occasionally ask when his father was coming home, Rachel would tell him that his father was already home "He is the one waiting for us to come home" Rachel explained to the young boy. This would confuse Jack a little but he never questioned further. Slowly but surely Merle was becoming really close to the little broken family. A year had passed and Rachel started to smile gain. A real smile. They had now gone on a few dates, and soon enough he had asked her to marry him. Rachel couldn't remember the last time she was happy after the accident. Sure no one could ever replace john but he was gone. And being alone and sad wasn't going to bring him back. Rachel re-married. Jack didn't mind Merle, he was on ok guy in his eyes and he saw that he made his mom smile again.

Two years passed and trouble hit again. Jack was now 10 years old. "They what?" Rachel exclaimed. "Their budget decreased and they had to let some people go" Merle explained starting to lose his patience. " no. they can't, they can't do this to us" Rachel protested staring at Merle as if wanting him to do something about it " well don't look at me like that I can't do anything about it" " SO what ? You're just going to sit there?"

"no" he said calmly " I'm going to have to find another job, were going to have to cut off some of our luxuries, you might have to get a job and THAT SPOILED BRAT IS GOING TO HAVE TO ASK FOR LESS TOYS!" He began to yell towards the end.

Jacks sat in his room. He could hear loud voices going back and forth from behind his door. It went on for what seemed like forever then the voices stopped and he heard some struggling then a loud thud, but what scared him the most was the silence that followed. He cracked open his door just to catch a glimpse of Merle grabbing his coat and leaving out the door. Jack slowly walked to the living room. The curtains were slightly tilted and there was a lamp that was knocked down. Then he saw his mom. She sat on the couch with her face in her hands quietly sobbing. Jack sat next to her and patted her back. "What's wrong mom?" He asked she refused to look up. She stood up from the couch making sure her face stayed out of jacks view "nothing dear, you should go back to your room. I need to fix dinner". Merle came back late that night. Jack laid in his bed and he was just beginning to drift into a deep sleep when he heard the front door open and close. He listened as a pair of fumbling footsteps slowly made their way up the stairs and into the hall. He heard his mom, then Merle, then his mom again. He listened as the conversation gradually increased in volume. Over the past few weeks everything was becoming too familiar, the fumbling the yelling the beer bottles the loud thuds. And every morning his mom had new bruises. When jack would ask her how shed gotten them shed shrug and say she fell, tripped, bumped, or crashed into something.

Jack was now 13. The arguments continued to get worse, jack started to hate that man. He was now old enough to understand what had been going on. He knew exactly how his mom ended up bruised and hurt every morning. One night Merle came home extra dunk. Jack sat in his room doing his homework as usual. He started hearing the voices again. Back and for then, louder and louder. "Not this time" jack said to himself. He walked closer towards the yelling and walked in on Merle with a bottle in his hand and the other clenching on to his moms short hair. Jack had never felt so much anger in his 13 years of life. The man nonchalantly took a big gulp from the bottle in his hand and said "go back to your room boy, this is none of your business" Jack looked down at his mom "jack, listen to him. Its ok baby just go" jack tightened his fist around the pencil he forgot to leave in his room. Without double thinking he charged at the man faster than the drunk man could react and sunk the sharp end of his pencil into Merle's leg. Merle let out a loud scream and let go of Rachel's hair backhanding the boy in the face, sending jack stumbling to the floor. "Why you little…"he leaned down to grab a fist full of the boy's hair lifting him up just enough to smash his head to the hard floor. Jack held on to Merle's hand that gripped his hair trying to pull away from the tight grip. Merle let go of jack only to begin to kick the boy. "MERLE STOP! PLEASE STOP, HES JUST A BOY" jacks mom screamed "YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HIM, STOP!" she tugged at the man. But he continued. She ran toward where jack was being kicked and placed herself in front of him earning her a hard kick from Merle on the side of the head and she was knocked unconscious. Everything was silent. Merle had stopped kicking. Rachel had stopped screaming. All you could hear now was jacks heavy uneven breathing. Merle looked at jack "this is all your fault, if you had just stayed in your room like a good little boy, THIS wouldn't have happened to her" he said pointing at his mom. Jack painfully brought himself to his elbows with a low grunt escaping hi throat. Me made his way to his mom with a slow painful crawl and held her unmoving hand. He saw how dead looking she was and he began to sob "c'mon she'll be alright' Merle began. "Just think of this as a learning experience" jacks sobs turned into loud cries "you stop that boy" but jack didn't stop, he couldn't. "Stop it before I…" Merle stopped as he looked around the wrecked room, he walked over picking up an old sock from the floor and pulling out a handkerchief from a drawer "this ought to do it" he said with a smirk on his face. Jack didn't notice what was going on he just cried and held on to his mom's limp hand. It wasn't until he felt a sock being stuffed into his mouth followed by a handkerchief being tied around the back of his head that he realized what Merle was doing. Jack's eyes widened and quickly reached with his hands to pull off the handkerchief, but this only made the drunk man mad and before he knew it Merle had him pinned to the floor and finished the knot with a tight tug. Jack couldn't move his arms due to Merles knees that were on top of them. Merle picked up jack from the floor holding on to the boys arms behind his back and walked him to his room. Jack could barely walk, pain shot through his ribs and he let out a small cry. But the man continued to walk pushing him from behind. He threw jack on his bed and pulled out another rag from his pocket. He proceeded by slamming jacks wrists onto the frame and tied his wrists tightly. "Night night." The man said. He turned off the lights and closed the door. Leaving jack alone tied up and badly injured in the dark.

Jack had to miss school for a week. Merle didn't want anyone growing suspicious of the boy's injuries. It was Sunday night, week had already passed by and jack was going back to school on Monday. He still had bruises on his arms and stomach but he couldn't miss too much school. He laid in his bead staring out the window at the moon, as he began to think about his father the moon began to shine brighter and brighter. It was the clouds. They had been blocking the moonlight and had finally began to disappear revealing the full beautiful bright moon. He couldn't help but think more about his father. For some reason he felt closer to him at that very moment. His thoughts were soon interrupted by a creaking sound. His door was slowly opening. "Merle' he thought "ill just pretend I'm asleep" the door didn't stop then came the footsteps. As they drew closer to jack he began to sweat under his covers. His eyes were closed but he could feel him right in front of him. Then all of a sudden the blankets were taken off of him. His eyes snapped open and before he could scream a hand covered his mouth. The hand felt soft, and warm. "Shhhhhhhh" the voice said softly. Jack could now see, it wasn't Merle, it was his mother. "Were getting out of here" she said. Jack was confused but simply followed behind his mom as she pulled some luggage behind her. "Had she been planning this for a while? "Jack wondered, but he really didn't care. All he cared was that they were finally going to leave that man that had tormented them for far too long. He put on his shoes grabbed a few of his persona belongings and headed towards the door. Everything went smoothly. Not a sound was made. They finally made it to the car that was pre-packed. it already had some more luggage in it and more of their belongings. They stuffed the final luggage in the back and drove off, not looking back. He didn't know where they were headed. He didn't know how long his mom had been planning this. What he did know was the distance that was being put between them and Merle.

**~And that's how the little broken family landed in the small town of Burgess.~**


	12. Chapter 12 The man in the moon

Ch. 12. The man in the moon

**back to story setting. jack is 16 (almost 17)**

Jack woke up in in a cold sweat panting and breathing hard. His brown hair stuck to his forehead due to the droplets of sweat that had formed while he slept. It took him a few minutes to calm down and realize he was still in his bedroom. He turned his head over to his night stand to check the time, 2:02 am. Then he remembered, he was having a bad dream. More like a flashback. He shook his head, rubbed his eyes and laid in bed restless and uncomfortable he turned his pillow, flipped to his side until finally deciding in surrender that he wasn't tired anymore. He got himself up from his bed, his ribs still ached but the pain had definitely gone down. He looked around, he could barely see anything. He started slowly and cautiously towards the light switch only to be tripped by his school bag that he forgot he had left on the floor, he quickly caught himself with the wall and turned on the lights. The blinding lights shone brighter than usual, at least it felt that way. His whole vision went white and he could not see anything. He reached with his right hand for the switch while covering his eyes with his left. His hand tapped around the wall until it finally hit it. "I'll just walk in the dark" he decided. It only took a few seconds before his vision adjusted to the dark again and he began towards his mother's room. He creaked open her bedroom door and watched as the lump laid there very still. After a short while the lump shifted into a different sleeping position. Jack released his breath he hadn't noticed he was holding in. "it was just a dream" he reminded himself. Slowly and careful not to make any noise he closed the door behind him and headed back to his bedroom. As he walked once again into his bedroom he made his way towards the window, careful to walk around his backpack this time. The window of his bedroom led to roof of the apartments. They were on the very top floor so all that stood between him and the roof were some pipes which he used to maneuver his way up. Tonight the moon looked brighter. Jack smiled at the moon laying still on his back, breathing in the cold of the night and soaking it all in. "Hey dad, how have you been" he paused as if someone had actually responded. "That's good, yeah I've been doing well… no. no I haven't been getting into trouble… okay, maybe a little but nothing big" he sighed "I miss you dad, mom and I miss you a lot. I wish you hadn't left us" jack of course knew he was talking to the moon. However he liked to imagine it was his dad shining on him whenever the light of the moon got that bright. He liked making up conversations, conversations he knew he would never be able to really have with his father. Conversations he _yearned _to have with him but he knew it was impossible. He rolled over to his side barely catching a glimpse of a shadow down below that had hurriedly disappeared into the trees. Jack propped up to his hands and knees leaning over the edge of the building trying to catch sight of the owner of that shadow. There was nothing. "It must have been my imagination" he convinced himself.


	13. Chapter 13

hey guys it would be nice to know what i could fix or if you guys are even liking the story before i try to come up with the rest. i do have the whole beginning to end so i am going somewhere with this. please reviews id like some communication. lots a love thanks


	14. Chapter 14

**thanks for the love rootietootie16**

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Ch.14

It was lunch time again. The two friends talked loudly on top of each other about the game last night and Sanderson wrote excitedly on his notebook engaging in the loud conversation "nah man I totally kicked your ass" "hahah reminds me of that one time when Aster…" "Shshhhh I told you to never mention that again" Tatiana sat there quietly, barely anything from her lunch tray had been touched. She was lost in thought and couldn't shake away the memory of the boy she had bumped into. Jack. He didn't seem like a bad kid like Aster said. Of course she only met him for a few seconds. However, Tatiana had a special gift for knowing when someone meant trouble and jack didn't send her those vibes. She was wondering why his eyes looked so sad. Usually during school when shed see him every morning He was either busy pulling a prank or making the teachers mad while he skated down the halls, but she had never really paid close attention to jack. No one ever did. Who was he? Who is Jack Frost? "Hello, hello, helloooooo, earth to Tatiana" a voice interrupted her thoughts. She blinked repeatedly as she came back to the lunch table. "Where are you today?" Aster asked her "are you feeling ok" it wasn't like Tatiana to be so quiet. "I'm right here silly" she replied with a fake smile. She had thought about telling Aster about her encounter with jack. She thought about telling him about how she had a feeling there might be something going on with him, or that he had gotten hurt maybe someone had hurt him. But she quickly dismissed the idea. Aster highly disliked jack so he wouldn't care or think anything of it and he'd probably tell her she's over thinking things. Aster eyed Tatiana suspiciously. The bell finally rung but Tatiana hadn't seemed to notice. She was still lost way too deeply in her thoughts. The two brothers got up from the table and waved their goodbyes to their friends. Tatiana finally came back and waved in return. She was about to pick up her tray from the table when Aster gently held her down by her arm

"Is there something on your mind? Something you need to tell me?"

"Me uhh... No not really. No, why? Why do you ask that?" her eyes looking around the cafeteria for a distraction. Tatiana had never been a good liar.

"Okay... what is it. I know for a fact now that you're hiding something" she paused for a while wondering if she could continue on with her bad lie, then with a sigh she finally decided to spill.

"Okay" she said in defeat "but promise you'll hear me out, k?"

"Okay" Aster replied questioningly.

"So yesterday after school after cheer practice was over, I was on my way to the library for tutoring session, right?"

"Right"

"Okay, so then I was picking up some books from my lockers, and as I was about to turn the corner, all of a sudden jack bumped into me"

"Jack? Jack who? FROST! Jack Frost bumped into you!?" aster got up from his chair.

"DID HE HURT YOU? ARE YOU OKAY? WHY THAT BLOODY... no wonder he missed practice yesterday. WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM I-"

"Aster, stop. You said you'd hear me out. No he didn't hurt me, on the contrary"

"You hurt him!?"

"Gosh no! Jeez just let me finish." Aster sat back down "I think he was hurt. You see at first I thought it was coz we bumped, but I know we didn't bump hard enough for him to look the way he did."

"Look the way he did?"

"Yeah, he was all crouched and he breathed heavily, now that I think about it he was crouching before we even bumped. That was probably why he didn't see me"

"So did ya ask'm?"

"No. he left to fast for me to even say anything" she sighed.

"You worry way too much, it's probably none of our business, just let the kid be."

"But what if-"

"I said let it be. That kid is trouble, you really should stay away from him. I would never forgive myself if he ever-"

"Aster… remember your freshman year? And half of junior? Before Nick came along. Before Sanderson. Before me? Didn't you wish someone was there for you? Tatiana was now looking straight into Asters eyes. Her hands were holding on to both of his. Aster hated thinking about those times, he hated remembering how lonely he felt. He finally broke the silence.

"We should get to class. Were already late" Tatiana looked away and let go of his hands

"Well… we could just say we couldn't find our class. It _is_ the first day of our second trimester"

"Well, you have this all planned out don't ya? What do you have next period?" Tatiana pulled out her schedule form her pocket.

"Umm let's see- uhh… oh look we have the same class"

Aster wrapped his arm around her shoulder and they headed to class together.


	15. Chapter 15

Ch. 15 new classmates

"Thank goodness we found it" Tatiana said loudly as she and her boyfriend walked into class "see I told you it was this way" aster had a slight smirk on his face. Tatiana might not have been the best liar but she sure was a good actress.

"Hello" the teacher greeted "you two go ahead and find yourselves a seat" the teacher seemed nice. She was one of the few young teachers the school had. Aster and Tatiana sat somewhere near the back. Aster looked uninterested to see who his fellow classmates were, however Tatiana looked right then left waving at people and smiling at them. Somewhere among the crowd she spotted a familiar looking face.

"Aster. Look who's in our class" Tatiana whispered. Aster lazily turned over to where Tatiana's eyes were hinting

"Speak of the devil.''

Jack sat at the far end of the classroom. He stared up at the board with a tired look on his face. His arms laid on his desk and his chin rested on top.

As aster turned his head back, he quietly slammed his forehead on his disk. Tatiana frowned.

"You really should give him a chance, what if you're wrong about him. I think you should go and talk to him" Aster rolled his face still slammed to the desk over at Tatiana. "No" he simply replied. Tatiana looked at him angrily, then quickly changed her expression to pouty "pwease?" "Wha- no I said no. why do you even care so much" "because he might need a friend" Tatiana replied. Aster rolled his eyes "I'm sure he already has lots of little friends." the teacher began handing out some assignments. And quickly their whispered conversation was over as they concentrated on their work.

School was finally over. Tatiana and Aster walked together to find the rest of their friends. When they all finally met up Tatiana began "why don't you talk to him? I bet you guys could become friends"

"A new friend?" nick said excitedly "that would be grand, who is this new friend of ours?"

"Does he like videogames?" Sanderson wrote on his notebook.

"Its Jack, jack fr-"Tatiana was interrupted before she could finish.

"No! There is no new friend. Especially not with the likes of him. Guys, he's always getting into trouble and on my last nerve during practice… SWIM PRACTICE! Crikey! I can't be late again." Aster quickly disappeared. The three friends just stood there stared into space. "Would you like to come over this time to play the new game" the note was held in front of Tatiana for her to read. "Sure, if you don't mind me kicking both your butts?" it was usually only weekends when all four friends could be together. It was swim season so Aster had to sit out most of the fun. Cheer was usually with football season but every now and then she still had meetings to attend.

Aster finished giving out the announcements for the day. He sent out the swimmers off with a warm up and a couple of sets before jumping in himself.

Practice felt extra-long for jack this time. As he pulled himself through the water, pulling each stroke down he could feel the pain through his body. And with every flip turn it felt even worse. He almost wanted to sit out for the day but he had already missed practice the day before. "I'll just rest a little bit" he thought. He slowly pulled himself out hissing from the pain and sat at the edge of the pool. Out of nowhere a voice yelled at him "oi, get your bloody self back in the pool!" jack didn't feel like arguing and he certainly didn't want to explain anything to anyone. He simply jumped back in to his agonizing pain.

Two hours had finally gone by. And people began to leave as they finished their final set. Jack didn't have to do extra sets this time, he actually hadn't finished his, so he stayed behind. Aster got out of the pool and wrapped a towel around his waist as he stared at the boy still swimming. This wasn't unusual for jack, he always stayed behind to swim extra laps. what was unusual was how bad his form looked. Regardless of his huge dislike for jack, Aster had to admit he was a pretty good swimmer, but looking at him now, there was something definitely off with his stroke. Then the conversation he had had with Tatiana during lunch came to his head "I think he was hurt" Tatiana's voice said "he was all crouched and he breathed heavily…" aster shook his head. "Nah" And he left to the locker rooms.


	16. Chapter 16

Ch.16

"Maaa I'm home." Aster yelled from the bottom of the stairs to be heard. "How was practice sweetie" a tall blond woman appeared from the top of the staircase

"Eh, y'know. The usual"

"That kid still giv'n you a hard time?"

"Bloody dill makes me mad as a cut snake, but no today he just minded his own bizzo."

"Well I'm glad, dinner's sitting in the microwave for ya"

"Thanks ma"

Aster grabbed the food from the microwave and headed up the stairs to his room. He kicked off his shoes and dug into his meal as he trailed off in thought. There was a lot to think about. First off, he thought about Tatiana, then he remembered how he had almost been late to practice and he had disappeared without even saying goodbye. "Damn, hope she's not mad" but knowing Tatiana she was a pretty chill laid back girl who didn't take offence that easily. He liked that about her because he would mess up a lot, however he still planned on calling her to apologize. Then he thought about the team, he hoped he had done a good job coaching the team he was in charge of while the coach was out. Today had been his last day of subbing, the coach was coming back tomorrow. With that final thought he pulled out his phone and started dialing

"Hello?" answered a chirpy voice with a ring

"Hey"

"Hey! How was practice? Were you late?"

"Uhh... No, no I wasn't thankfully"

"Oh good, coz you left so fast and all of a sudden and-"

"Yeah I wanted to apologize about that, I've just been so stressed and busy. The coach left me in charge, and I've had to keep up with school work, and all the applications for schools, and that trouble mak-"he cut himself off. He remembered he didn't want to talk about that, he didn't want Tatiana trying to make him be friends with him.

"Jack? Were you able to talk to him? Are you being nice?"

"Yeah... Everything's good. He was at practice, uhh… and yeah. He stayed out of trouble this time"

There was a long pause between them as Aster thought about practice. It _was_ strange that jack hadn't been any trouble, and the way he was swimming was unusual. "Why didn't I correct his stroke? Surely it is my responsibility to make sure everyone's in shape" He thought to himself, but for some reason aster couldn't find it in himself to do so. Did he really believe what Tatiana had been saying about jack? Could her suspicions be accurate?

"What did you say happened to him?" Aster found himself asking Tatiana

"Uhh... He didn't say, remember? He left to quickly. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Just wondering"

Aster quickly changed the topic "so… the dance. You already know what you're wearing?"

"No not really. We still have time though"

"Yeah" aster agreed.

"I was thinking though, why don't we try to match? Like your tie with my dress. I've seen couples do that and we could certainly find a nice color that would suit us both."

"Yeah. That sound good. Let's do that"

"Yay! Ok so we'd have to go to that mall together, and then there the style of dress and if you're wearing a bow or tie or none. I'm so excited,"

"Yeah just lemme when and I'll pick you up. Do you want to come over to watch a movie tonight?"

"Sure. I'll be over in a bit just gotta finish up some homework"

"K see you in a bit, bye"

"Bye"

Aster sat in silence. He hated that his mind kept bringing him back to the mystery of Jack Frost. He had to end it. "Tomorrow I am going to ask him, mostly for Tatiana so she can give it a rest" he knew Tatiana had a huge heart but sometimes she could get carried away caring too much for people.

That night before they started the movie, he told her that he planned on finally ending the mystery and talking to jack during their class together.


	17. Chapter 17

Ch17.

All four friends stood in the hallway of the school together. They were talking about what Tatiana suspicions were regarding the boy jack. Aster expressed how fed up he was with frost "if this turns out to be just a big part of one of his stupid pranks he's going to see a not- so-pretty side of Aster" he said using his third person as he punched his fist into his hand. At that cue, jack burst through the hallway of the school on his skateboard. He quickly jumped off the board before the teachers could tell him anything. He headed towards his locker right as the bell rang. Everyone scrammed to get to class and soon enough the hallways were empty. Jack was still at his locker. This was the period before lunch and he had an off role, so he had no hurry to get anywhere. Jack shoved his final book and as he closed his locker pitch's face stood right in front of him "boo" pitch said " told you id be back" jack didn't look amused "look what the cat dragged in. don't you have some little kids to scare somewhere else or something?"

"Oh jack, jack, jack. You see, that's why I'm here, for some reason I just can't get you to cooperate with me jack. You've become my little project. There's still no fear in your eyes and I just could never let something like that just pass by me." Jack stare back into pitches eyes with nothing but a slight smirk on his face. He began to walk but pitch stopped him with two fingers to his chest "the way I see it, frost" pitch continued "we're going to have to find a solution to my problem" "your problem?" jack's smirk disappeared as he slightly squinted his eyes in confusion as to where pitch was going with this "join me. Why don't you just join us? It is so much more fun with us than just being by yourself" pitch was now walking circles around jack "people will notice you jack, you'll have friends and no one will mess with you. Ever." "Because they'll fear me" jack replied "thanks, but no thanks. That's more your thing. Not mine" jack began once again to walk "there are other benefits as well" pitch continued but jack kept walking. "We have ways to make money" jack stopped "Easy money. Lots of money". Jack thought about his poor mother. How hard she had to work just to barely make rent. He thought how they hardly got to see each other, her sore feet, and her lack of sleep. She deserved so much better. Jacks thoughts were cut off "what do you say jack?" jack stared into pitch's eyes. Pitch extended his long skinny arm for jack to take it. Jack didn't break eye contact with pitch. Then with one sudden movement he slapped pitches hand away from him "like I said Pitch, not my style" pitches eyes became angry "Fine! Have it your way" and with that he swung his arm towards jack. Jack barely ducked it in time only to have to block a knee to the face from pitch. Jack stumbled a bit but got quickly to his feet throwing a punch towards pitch. Jacks punch managed to hit pitch knocking him down. Pitch got up and slowly out of nowhere the rest of his gang showed up. Pitch wiped some blood of his face" you're going to pay for this frost" the gang surrounded jack now and they began to draw closer. The first one to launch himself at jack was Travis. Jack easily dodged the kid and manage to kick him sending him flying against the wall. But jacks worries lied on Derek he kept his eyes on the huge kid However Derek didn't seem to be making any moves. Suddenly he felt pain on the back of his head. Someone had gotten him from behind. But who? "Takes all three of you this long to take down one kid?" a female voice said. Pitch's girlfriend had appeared from behind jack and with a huge book in her hand she managed to knock the kid unconscious. Jack laid on the floor and black spots began to dance around in his vision, before he knew it he was surrounded by darkness the last thing he heard was the lunch bell ring.


	18. Chapter 18

**thanks guys for the kind reviews. so i am going to be moving back to my hometown, San Diego California. i am not sure if i will have access to a computer but i am pre-writing chapters to be able to at least update when i get to the library. i wouldn't be able to sit at a library for to long because i am a mother of a beautiful one year old and he happens to get bored in libraries. thanks guys and enjoy**

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Ch.18

"Ok, OK get the bloody story straight" Aster and the rest of the friends argued at the lunch table "I am not making friends with the kid, so no, Sanderson, were not inviting him to video game nights" Aster turned to Sanderson as he finished that sentence. Sanderson slowly lowered his notebook that had had the question about the video games on it.

"Then why talk to boy at all?" Nick questioned

"Because, it'll make Tatiana feel better if she knew when and how he fell off his skateboard and got hurt"

"Hey!" Tatiana said smacking aster on the arm. Aster giggled.

"I'm just simply going to comment on how bad his stroke looked, then he'll have to explain and voila the great mystery will be solved" Aster sat back in his chair arms folded feeling like a genius.

Sanderson sat back in his chair mimicking Aster. Arms folded and trying to look smart and cool. The whole group began to laugh. Even aster thought it was a bit funny. "Some cobber ya're" he said as he tried not to laugh. The bell rang and Nick and Sanderson headed their way as Tatiana and Aster began towards theirs.

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The familiar smell of chlorine woke him up. The blurred figures stood in front of him as he felt the pain in the back of his head. He looked around and noticed where he laid. He was close to the edge of the pool. Then he looked down at his hands. They were tied together. As jacks vision became clearer he noticed the four figures that stood there were none other than pitch and his gang, suddenly with a splitting headache he remembered what had happened. They all carried a huge grin on their faces and one of the figures stood there laughing annoyingly. Then he noticed pitch carried something in his hands. Jack squinted his eyes then finally making out what the object was he got up to his feet.

"What's the matter frost? I thought you were a swimmer" pitch said "surly some ankle weights won't be any trouble for you." He grinned pushing jack back to the floor "that's for my buddy Travis".

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Tatiana and aster made their way to their seats, as soon as they both sat down the final bell rang. Aster looked over at jack's empty seat and shrugged "figures he'd be late". The teacher began the lesson. Minutes went by and still no jack. Aster didn't seem to be thinking much of this. He simply paid attention to whatever the lesson was about, however, Tatiana had a strange feeling, a bad feeling. She was good on following her intuitions because she was usually right, even more so that nick's gut feelings. She knew jack was at school today, she'd seen him earlier. She tapped her fingers on the desk then bit into her pencil. Finally Titania raised her hand "excuse me, may I please go to the bathroom?" "Go ahead "the teacher replied. Tatiana picked up her phone from her bag and slipped it into her pocket then headed towards the door.


	19. Chapter 19

Ch. 19

Tatiana walked down the halls, not exactly knowing where she was going. She certainly didn't have to go to the bathroom. She kept walking knowing she would soon run out of time. If she took too long people would start to wonder where she was. She headed towards the back of the school already having covered through the front. No one was around, "why would anyone be back here?" she asked herself turning around. She start to head back to the front feeling silly about even ending up back there. All of a sudden she heard a faint laugh, she'd heard that annoying laugh before. Curiously she followed it. She was now heading towards the pool area, which she thought was strange. The pool area was indoors due to the seasonal snow days, it was a huge echoing room, with two heavy doors containing a small window the size of a textbook. She stood right next to one of the doors about to open one of them, but something stopped her. She decided to instead take a look through the small window. She had to get on her tip toes for her eyes to reach the level of the window. As she peered inside she saw a group of kids, she immediately recognized them. She knew those kids. She knew they were bullies. However, they had never messed with her. Aster made sure of that. They seemed to be huddled around something, she examined the scene. She pushed herself closer to try to hear what they were saying but all she heard were blurred voices of their conversation. She was about to leave, when all of a sudden another familiar face showed up. They weren't huddled around _something_, they were huddled around _someone. _Although she didn't say it out loud her expression gasped. She observed the scene unfolding before her, jack had gotten up putting him into view from the group that blocked his path. She watched as pitch showed jack something he had been holding in his hands and then pushed jack back to the floor. Tatiana felt scared for jack, but she knew better than to go and try to take them all on. She would be of no help. She sat back down with her back against the door and pulled her phone from her pocket. Immediately she texted Aster.

'**ASTER. TROUCLE. COME QUIKKK BRING FRIWNDS. POOOL NOW.'**

Her fingers were shaky as she wrote as fast as she could. She didn't stop to fix her mistakes before sending it.

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Aster sat in boredom with an elbow on his desk and his face leaning against his palm**. **He was listening to the teacher as she went on about how men are inheritable evil based on the believes of The Lord of the Flies. His phone sat on his lap when it began to vibrate. He looked down and opened up the text. As he read the text message from Tatiana his fist clenched and he became nervous. He quickly did as the text commanded and texted Nick and Sanderson.

**'Guys trouble with Tatiana. Meet by pool'**

As he sent the text he began to fake cough uncontrollably. "Aster? Are you okay?" the teacher asked him in concern. Aster shook his head as he continue to cough. The teacher excused him from the classroom asking him to get a drink of water, Aster quickly made his way out the door. He sprinted down the hallway taking his familiar path towards the pool. It took him a few minutes and finally he spotted a small figure sitting on the floor. Finally reaching Tatiana he knelt down to her level "what happened? Are you okay? Are you hurt?" "shhhhhhhhhh" she simply said. He was confused. She didn't look hurt "what's going on?" Aster whispered. "Bullies" she said "pitch and his gang" Tatiana pointed towards the door. Aster looked at the door behind Tatiana as he slowly stood up to take a look through the window. He saw pitch, he saw Travis, Derek, Natasha, and he saw Jack. He was on the floor with a bloody nose and Travis heading towards him. Tatiana noticed as his eyes widened and his fists clenched white. She knew regardless of Aster's dislike for jack, one thing he could not tolerate, was bullying no matter who was the victim or who was that bully. Flashbacks of freshman year ran through Aster's memories. He felt his hands shaking in the anger he felt

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**please review. Much apretiated. Lots a love **


	20. Chapter 20

**warning: another cliffhanger.**

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Ch. 20

Jack got back up. Standing his ground he glared at pitch as he was once again surrounded. He unconsciously wiggled his wrists as he tried to break them free. Pitch had noticed this "HA. Forget it Frost you think I'll let you go that easily. You still owe me." Jack was furious. He had been bullied by his step dad once and this was looking all too familiar to him. Only difference was, He wasn't a wimpy kid anymore. Without hesitation he launched himself towards pitch. Pitch stumbled to the floor as jack was about to make his way to the door.

"GET HIM!" pitch yelled. At his command Derek swung a punch at jack. Jack was able to notice it in time to block it from his face but still managed to get hit on his shoulder sending him against a wall. Jack rolled to his knees and elbows and began talking to pitch still staring at the floor

"Four against one?… you're going to let your friends do all the work for you? … or are you planning on growing some balls and fight me yourself?"

Pitch was making his way to jack. This time no smirk no laugh, just anger.

"You make me so mad Frost!" Pitch snarled. He lifted his foot and kicked jack in the face rolling him over on his back. Pitch looked over at Natasha and gave her a signaling look. Natasha nodded back with an evil smile across her face and walked over to where the weights had ended up. She handed them over to Travis who began his way to jack. Jack had managed to get himself into a sitting position resting his back against the rough cemented wall he looked down at the wet pool deck floor as he thought to himself. "You're so pathetic" he told himself "useless! Even after all these years you still can't defend yourself. Anything that your about to get, you deserve." He saw Travis's ugly worn out shoes standing right in front of him. But this time, jack didn't struggle, he didn't fight back.

Without double thinking Aster burst through the door. With his adrenaline rushing he sent both heavy doors crashing open.

"Oi! What the bloody hell you bloody dill think you're doing" all eyes were on Aster. Pitch stood in front of the group

"This is not of your concern we're just settling some unfinished business"

"The hell it is!" Aster shouted. Tatianna ran up behind Aster

"Let him go pitch!" she exclaimed.

"Oh sure. Yeah don't worry. Those were my plans exactly" pitch said as he stood aside revealing jack. Jack sat on the floor back against the wall with his chin to his chest. As that very scene unfolded, Nick and Sanderson arrived. They stood behind Tatianna. Before they could ask what was going on, they gasped as they saw jack. They all noticed his wrists and now his ankles were tied however, aster was the only one to take notice on the ankle weights that held jacks ankles together. Jack slowly looked up, noticing the four friends for the first time. He knew Aster and his girlfriend for the most part but nick and Sanderson were almost complete strangers to him. "The hell are you guys doing here?" jack snapped. Although his voice sounded weak it still held an attitude to it. The friends didn't answer they just stared at jacks face. He had blood running down his nose littering over his blue sweater and a blue bruise right under his left eye.

"Ya not looking to sharp there frost" Aster finally broke the silence.

"Yeah... Well I'm fine. So you guys can just leave already" jack tiredly responded

"See... he's fine. You heard the boy. Now get!" pitch interrupted.

The friends stood their ground. Especially Aster. Knowing about Jack's stubbornness, He would never admit to help, no matter how bad the situation, and all this just came to prove it.

"Fine!" Pitch snarled "you guys won't leave?..." he went over by where jack sat and dragged him by the back of his hoodie towards the pool "we'll just have to cut our little meeting short and skip to the end" pitch leaned close to jack whispering something into his ear before letting go.

Everything happened so fast for jack. One minute he's listening to pitch's threatening voice in his ear next thing he knows he's underwater without having anytime or warning to catch a last breath.


	21. Chapter 21

Ch. 21

Aster was the first to react. He ran towards where jack was thrown, only to be blocked by Derek. Derek threw some punches but being as big of a guy as he was, his moves were slow allowing Aster to easily dodge. However, aster still couldn't get around the large kid. Nick came up behind Aster and tackled Derek from the side "I'll take him, you go!" nick shouted. Aster wasn't worried about Nick. He turned and began towards the pool. He looked around and saw Travis. He knew Travis wouldn't be much of a problem, but any time wasted could be fatal for jack. Out of nowhere, Travis was picked up from behind. Sanderson had snuck up on Travis and tackled him to the floor to hold him in a lock position. Sanderson nodded over to Aster, and aster continued his sprint. "Damn" aster cursed himself "if I don't make it soon…" his thoughts were cut off as he thought of Tatiana. "Where is she?" he asked himself looking around without stopping. He looked over at the far end of the pool closer to where jack had been thrown and saw Tatiana gripping onto a girl's blond hair as the other girl clawed at her trying to break away. All that was left was Pitch. Although only seconds had passed by, it had felt like minutes, and Aster knew jack wouldn't be able to hold on much longer under water.

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Jack struggled to break free from the ropes. He wiggled his wrists desperately. He wished he had at least held a mouth full of oxygen before ending up down here. The more he struggled the more air bubbles escaped his lips, and he just couldn't afford to lose any more air. The weights around his ankles dragged him further down to the bottom of the pool and as good swimmer as he was, he knew he wouldn't be able to survive this. He knew Pitch didn't like him. But he never thought he would try to end his life. He thought about what pitch had whispered to him before throwing him to his death. "You and your friends better keep your mouths shut about this if you know what's good for you, and your precious mommy". "Did Pitch plan on me surviving this? Why else would he threaten me to be silent?" jacks thoughts were interrupted when he felt the bottom of the pool beneath him. His ears felt like they were about to explode along with his head due to the water pressure. He then felt the sudden urge to breath. He was now becoming more desperate and he began to struggle against his restraints once more only for the last bit of air bubbles to finally leave his lungs. He was now beginning to realize that he just might not survive this after all. His vision began to tunnel as he thought about his mom "I really hope she's able to find the happiness she deserves" then out of nowhere he felt an arm wrap around his waist. His lungs burned begging for oxygen and his tunnel vision only narrowed more as the seconds went by. He didn't know who was pulling him up. He almost couldn't see anything anymore. The trip to the surface felt like hours, and soon enough the tunnel which was once his vision closed and was gone.

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**thanks for reading. i love cliffhangers if you haven't already notice. i'm sorry if that bothers some people. please review review review! thank you**


	22. Chapter 22

Ch.22

Aster and Pitch were face to face. They stared at each other as a droplet of sweat ran down aster's right temple. He was running out of time. Asters eyes left pitch's as he noticed air bubbles surfacing from the bottom of the pool. When he's eyes came back up to meet pitch's, pitch was looking down at his watch with a smirk. Pitch slowly turned his back to Aster as the final school bell rung. Aster didn't care to follow Pitch, his concerns were on someone else. Pitch was already making his way to the exit of the pool. Nick and Sanderson watched as the kids they had seconds ago been fighting began to follow behind pitch. Tatianna and Natasha both were equally scratched and bruised. The girls just glared at each other with hate as Natasha walked over to her boyfriend and set herself under his arm. Pitch and his friends disappeared from view. The three friends stood there when the silence was finally broken by a sudden splash. Aster had jumped into the pool after jack.

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Pitch and his gang walked down the crowded hallway towards the exit of the school.

"You weren't really thinking of killing him were you?" Derek asked "I mean that was a pretty close…we may have gotten too f…" he was cut off

"of course not you idiot" pitch said " we were only going to give him a scare, you know, maybe that way hell finally get off his high horse. He really thinks he's someone important"

"But what happened at the pool… that was..."

"That only happened because those ass holes interfered, so I adapted to the situation and just gave them something to do, since they obviously had gone through all that trouble already"

"I didn't even know the brat had friends" Natasha said.

"He doesn't, he's an outcast. People like him belong either with us or on their own. Obviously he made his choice. But he'll regret it" pitch smiled.

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With a loud gasp for air, Aster finally surfaced, he shook his head to shake his wet hair off his eyes. Finally his vision cleared and he could make his way towards the deck. He one-arm-paddled his way to his friends while his other arm held Jack. Unfortunately for Aster he had decided that day to wear boots, which made it all the harder to kick and keep himself surfaced. Finally he felt cement on the tip of his fingers. He pulled himself and jack to the wall. Nick pulled jack out and laid him on the floor then turned his attention to Aster. Aster was resting at the wall panting to catch his breath

"I'm okay" he said while motioning with his hand to turn his attention to Jack. As if on cue, jack shot up inhaling a huge gasp of air. He was now in a sitting position having a coughing fit. Sanderson rubbed his back hoping that was somehow helpful. Everyone just stared at jack waiting to see when the fit would end. As jack gave his final coughs he looked around to see that Pitch was gone and he was left surrounded by… his teammate from swim team whom he highly disliked, Aster's girlfriend, and some other two guys who were apparently Aster's friends. 'geez' he thought to himself 'could this day get any worse' he tried not to meet their eyes as he got himself up to his feet. He hated being stared at. Especially by strangers, he could feel them feeling sorry for him. 'I just need to get myself up and make my way to the door'. While finally on his feet and about to give his first step disorientation suddenly hit him. Jack stumbled on his feet and was heading towards the floor once more. Aster stood right beside him now holding him up by his shoulder "watch it mate" jack snatched his arm back "I'm fine" he snapped " I don't need your help" and he began to pride fully make his way to the locker rooms . "HEY! You bloody…" Aster began before he was cut off by jack "I know… bloody dill. And don't worry I won't be late to practice" was the last thing he said as he disappeared behind the locker room door.

"What the hell is his deal?! "Aster exclaimed "I mean we go out of our bloody way to save his ass and all he does is give us sass!"

"He probably just needs some time" Tatiana suggested

"No bloody way! That ass hole needs to learn some manners, how about a thank you!"

"I think it was just too much for him to take in all at once. I mean you hate his guts yet here you were saving him, me, I've only but met him once and them two" she pointed at nick and Sanderson "he doesn't even know who they are"

"friend, it is best that you calm down a bit" nick said placing his hand on aster's shoulder as he glanced up to behind aster making aster aware of the arriving swim team members.

"your right" aster sighed "nothing I can't swim off" he picked up his back pack, kissed Tatiana and made his way to the locker rooms to join his team.


End file.
